“She actually believes a sorcerer has cloaked and shielded us. Are you really that powerful, Owen?”
“No, not quite. But close enough,” he said with a grin in his voice as we climbed out of the car.
Owen didn’t remove the cloaks on us until we stood behind Blossom on the front porch. Aunt Sylvie gasped when we appeared.
“Oh, no. Blossom! This is almost as bad as Daemoni themselves.”
“Aunt Sylvie, your manners,” Blossom whispered, as if we couldn’t hear anyway. “Don’t you know who they are?”
“Of course I do. How could you bring them here?” Fear masked the woman’s face, as if she expected us to attack her.
“They need our help.”
“We can’t help. It’s too dangerous!” Aunt Sylvie glanced around the neighborhood again and stepped back into the house, pushing the door nearly closed so we could barely see her drop her head. “I’m sorry, Ms. Alexis, Mr. Tristan. I can’t risk my coven. There was a reason I wouldn’t respond to Owen’s calls. Please, leave now. It’s better for all of us.”
“But Aunt Sylvie,” Blossom begged, “they just need to ask about a girl. You might know—”
“No! I don’t—”
Three pops behind us cut her off, and we all spun around, hands out.
“That’s exactly why I can’t help!” The door’s slam punctuated Aunt Sylvie’s point. I caught enough of her thoughts to realize she knew nothing about a girl and only wanted her coven to be left in peace.
“Who are they?” Blossom whispered.
I knew who. I wanted to know how. How did Vanessa and her cronies find us once again? The surprise in Blossom’s voice and in her mind meant this wasn’t her doing. I felt out for mind signatures, but these three—Vanessa, her brother, and another vampire—were the only non-humans around. Besides the witches in the house, of course, who were scrambling around inside and calling to each other about wands and hide-out spots.
“The vampire bitch we told you about,” I whispered back. Vanessa giggled, probably pleased to hear we’d been talking about her, regardless of what had been said.
“You’re going to attack in daylight, in the middle of a human neighborhood?” Tristan demanded.
“No, we’re not here to fight,” Vanessa said.
“Really?” Tristan asked, the single word full of doubt.
“We’re obviously outnumbered and outpowered. We’re not stupid.”
“I beg to differ,” Owen muttered under his breath.
“I heard that, warlock,” Vanessa’s brother barked. “You better watch yourself.”
“Oh, stop. The warlock has a point about you, Victor,” Vanessa said with a roll of her ice-blue eyes, which landed back on Tristan. “Let’s just say I’m not stupid. But I’m beginning to think you are.”
Tristan growled. “What are you up to now?”
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Vampire hearing, you know. We’ve been watching this place, like we have every other coven, nest, pack, den . . . well, you get the picture. The Amadis refuse to help you. A little discord in paradise, huh?”
“What’s your point, Vanessa?” Tristan asked, his voice still a snarl.
“Well, I’m not surprised,” she continued, ignoring Tristan’s question. “This is what you’ve planned all along, right, lover? This nonsense search for a girl when you already know what you really need. This.”
She whipped her gloved hand out from behind her back, my necklace still wrapped around her wrist, the pendant dangling from it. She couldn’t wear the silver on her bare throat, and Vanessa wasn’t the type to wear anything high-necked to protect her skin.
I waved my hand, and the pendant swung toward me, but the chain was too strong and too tight to easily come off Vanessa’s wrist.
“Too bad you’ll never get it,” Vanessa sang. “It’s mine now, and soon enough, Seth will be, too.”
Without further thought, I jumped from the front porch toward her, but I was yanked back into Tristan’s arms.
“I’m waiting for you, darling,” Vanessa said, a gleam in her eyes. “Whenever you’re ready to call off this charade and return to me. I have the stone now. Just follow your heart.”
And with that, she disappeared, followed by her brother and other crony.
“Damn it!” I squirmed in Tristan’s arms. When he let me go, I spun on him. “Why did you stop me?”
“Your reaction was exactly what she wanted. She was taunting us. Especially you. The stone’s not worth it.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
“It’s just a rock, Lex. Forget about it.”
“You think it’s a distraction?” Owen asked.
Tristan’s jaw muscle twitched. “Yes. She’s trying to take advantage of everything going on with the Amadis. She knows we’re falling apart. Which means they all know.”
If that were true,